Saudi Arabia says oil tankers targeted in 'sabotage attack'

Juan Mendoza

Fujairah's port is located about 85 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of all oil at sea is traded.

UAE did not name who was responsible for the Sunday morning attacks on the vessels but warned that "carrying out acts of sabotage on commercial and civilian vessels and threatening the safety and lives of those on board is a serious development". The tankers affected were sailing towards the Persian Gulf and so far, no one has claimed responsibility over the attacks.

Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE gave details on the nature of the attacks.

Al-Falih also said the attack aimed to undermine the "security of oil supplies to consumers all over the world" and emphasized the "joint responsibility of the global community to protect" the safety of maritime navigation and oil tankers.

Tensions have risen in the year since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, restoring American sanctions that have pushed Iran's economy into crisis.

It also comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scrapped a visit to Moscow and made a decision to travel to Brussels to discuss Iran with French, British and German officials.

Mousavi "called for clarifications" concerning the "exact dimensions" of Sunday's attacks on ships in the Gulf, the foreign ministry's statement said.

Speaking in Brussels, the British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt warned of the risk that the tensions could trigger an unintended conflict in the region.

At 11:11 GMT, July WTI crude oil futures are trading $62.60, up $0.80 or +1.29% and July Brent crude oil futures are at $71.67, up $1.07 or +1.52%. "Iran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or US military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, or the Persian Gulf".

Also on Sunday, the USA embassy in Baghdad issued a security alert, advising United States citizens of "heightened tensions in Iraq". Dubai's benchmark dropped 4 per cent, the most among major gauges tracked by Bloomberg globally. It said the UAE had taken all necessary measures and launched an investigation in coordination with worldwide authorities. No one was hurt, and no fuel or chemicals were spilled, the state-run WAM news agency quoted the ministry as saying. After the United States ended all sanctions waivers that had allowed some nations to continue importing Iranian crude, Washington said Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would help compensate for any shortage in oil supply.

INTERTANKO, an association of independent tanker owners and operators, said in a note that it has seen photos showing that "at least two ships have holes in their sides due to the impact of a weapon". Separately, China announced it will raise tariffs on some US goods from June 1 following Washington's decision to increase levies on $200 billion of Chinese goods Friday, escalating a prolonged trade war.

It's unclear right now whether it's Iran or other parties that attacked the Saudi Arabia's oil tankers and four UEA commercial ships.

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